Spy magazine was founded in 1986 by Kurt Andersen and E. Graydon Carter. It briefly ceased publication in 1994, returned, and finally died in 1998. In its later incarnations it was edited by Tony Hendra and later Bruno Maddox .
Primarily a humor magazine, but also featuring some more serious investigative journalism, the New York-based Spy was modeled loosely on the British magazine Private Eye. It specialized in intelligent, highly irreverent pieces targeting the American media and entertainment industries. Some of its features attempted to present the darker side of celebrities such as Arnold Schwarzenegger (printing a nude photo of him and a picture of his father's Nazi party membership card), John F. Kennedy, Jr., Martha Stewart, and the magazine's nemesis, property investor Donald Trump, who was repeatedly described as the "short fingered vulgarian." The magazine also ran unflattering photographs and articles about Ivana Trump. The magazine was famous in its use of several lawyers to vet such potentially libelous material, but by making enemies in the entertainment business it scared away advertisers.
Spy was also noteworthy for its innovative, classically influenced typography and pioneering use of desktop publishing software at a magazine.
Imitating Private Eye, it featured a "Separated At Birth?" column, in which resemblances between celebrities are displayed in side-by-side photographs.
Issues of Spy
A total of 101 issues of Spy were produced, and the magazine is sought after by collectors, particularly for its earlier issues. However, it had a highly inconsistent dating system, and changed printing frequency several times, making it difficult to track down missing issues. Sometimes the date listed on the masthead differed from the one on page footers (indicated by parenthesis, below). The Spy publication history was as follows:
1986 (3 issues)
- October
- November
- December
1987 (10 issues)
- (January/)February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- (July/)August
- September
- October
- November
- December
1988 (10 issues)
- January/February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- July/August
- September
- October
- November
- December
1989 (11 issues)
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- July
- August
- September
- October
- November
- December
1990 (12 issues)
- January
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- July
- August
- September
- October
- November
- December
1991 (10 issues)
- January-February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- August
- September
- October
- November
- December
1992 (9 issues)
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- August
- September
- October
- November
1993 (11 issues)
- January
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- July-August
- September
- October
- November
- December 1993-January 1994 (some issues dated January 1994)
1994 (5 issues, due to first suspension of publication; relaunch as bimonthly)
- February
- March
- July-August
- September-October
- November-December
1995 (6 issues)
- January-February
- March-April
- May-June
- July-August
- September-October
- November-December
1996 (6 issues)
- January-February
- March-April
- May-June
- July-August
- September-October
- November-December
1997 (7 issues)
- Holiday Issue 1996 (January-Febuary 1997)
- March-April
- May-June
- July-August
- September-October
- November
- Holiday Issue (December 1997-January 1998)
1998 (1 issue)
Books
- Separated at Birth? (1988, ISBN 0385247443): A collection of photos from "Separated at Birth?"
- Spy Magazine Presents The Warhol Diaries Index (1989)
- Private Lives of Public Figures (Drew Friedman , cartoons from Spy, 1990)
- Spy Notes on McInerney's "Bright Lights, Big City /Janowitz's "Slaves of New York "/Ellis's "Less Than Zero" and All Those Other Hip Urban Novels of the 1980s (1989, ISBN 0385247451): A Cliffs Notes-style look at the literature of the eighties
- Separated at Birth? 2: The Saga Continues (1990, ISBN 0385410999)
- Spy High (1992)
CDs
- Spy Magazine Presents: Spy Music (Vol I)
- Spy Magazine Presents: White Men Can't Wrap (Vol II)
- Spy Magazine Presents: Soft, Safe & Sanitized (Vol III)
External links
